Wolf's Eden
by RossoLupo25
Summary: Rook is a werewolf who was thrown into an impossible situation and must save her friends. But she may have bitten off more than she can chew. Rated M for Smut in later chapters. Written at the public request of newmidnightmayor on Tumblr.
1. Crashed

The setting sun peeked in behind through the blinds, prying into my consciousness like a nosy relative at Thanksgiving. From under the covers I groaned, annoyed at the fact that my day had to begin now, and curled into a ball briefly before throwing off the bedspread and sprawling all my limbs across the bed. I opened my amber eyes and glared at the offending light. "Goddamn Mondays," I grumbled under my breath as I rocked myself up into standing and stretched, the bright rays warm on my naked skin.

I pulled my phone off the charger and shuffled over to her kitchen as I went through my emails. Nothing important. Just a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon, the water bill, and a newsletter from the department. All of which were things that could wait until I'd had my coffee and gone on my run. I was so glad I'd invested in one of those single serve coffee pots that could be programmed. I never had to wait for my coffee to brew anymore. Setting the phone down, I brought the coffee to my lips and took a long sip. The liquid was the perfect thing to wake me up.

I stepped out onto my back porch and surveyed my property in the golden light. It wasn't much. A small cabin on five wooded acres on the edge of Hope County, but it was just the amount of space and seclusion I needed. I sighed, loving the feel of the breeze in my hair and caressing my body, causing my nipples to pebble a bit with the slight chill. A shiver ran down my spine as I downed the rest of the coffee, setting my empty mug on the porch rail. Then, I leapt to the ground, not even bothering with the steps, and took off running across the yard feeling the change begin to come over me.

Unlike the first few years of painful shifts, it now went through me like a ripple in the water. My bones rolled into their new shapes and positions gently, white fur sprouted from my ivory skin, and my tongue lengthened to lap at the air as I ran through the woods, paws silent on the forest floor. I ran and ran, stretching all of my muscles and taking in all the scents that had been left by the creatures who lived here. Finding a squirrel, I gave chase until it hightailed it up a tree where I couldn't follow. Not that I'd have hurt it. I rarely killed smaller animals, usually only extending that effort to the bigger game that happened onto my territory, like deer and pigs. Elk also wandered in occasionally, but I knew from past experience that those long antlers were dangerous to a lone wolf, and I left well enough alone. The brown blur of a rabbit darted past me and I was contemplating chasing it when the sound of my phone ringing back at the cabin interrupted. Changing course, I put extra energy into my strides, reaching the porch in no time. I jumped over the steps once more and landed on human feet, dashing into the cabin to retrieve the phone. The display said it was my boss.

"Hello, Sheriff Whitehorse," I answered quickly just as it was about to go to voicemail. If it did that I would've never heard the end of it.

"Rook," he answered in an irritated tone. "I know you ain't supposed to be here for another hour and a half, but I need you to come on in— GOD DAMMIT, I'M WORKING ON IT!" He suddenly was shouting at someone in the background and I held the phone farther from my sensitive ears. He cleared his throat, and then he was back, "Sorry about that, Rook. We've got a Federal Marshal here throwing his dick around and it's pissing me off. I'll explain at briefing. Any ways, I'll see you soon?"

"Yes Sir, I'll be there as soon as I can." I replied respectfully. A Federal Marshal meant there was some serious shit was going down, and there was no way I was going to miss that.

"Hey Rook," my fellow deputy Staci Pratt put his hand on my shoulder. I glanced at him trying not to let on just how nervous the prospect of a helicopter ride made me. If I'd been meant to fly I'd have been born with wings. "Listen I know this is your first big arrest since you transferred to the Sheriff's department, but don't worry, despite what the Marshal is spewing, the Eden's Gate folks seem to be real peaceful. We don't get many calls concerning them. I mean their religious folks, how bad can they be?"

"You're probably right," I muttered back, eyeing the flying machine as we got ready to climb in. I pulled on my black tactical gloves in an effort to steel myself for air travel, "Thanks, Staci."

"No problem," He grinned, before taking his seat at the controls.

Shaking my head slightly, I looked away from the chopper for a moment. Pratt was becoming more and more of a friend over the past few months. One second he was looking out for me, and the next he was bringing me coffee spiked with hot sauce. _Asshole_. I smiled to myself at the thought. Looking back to the chopper, I found the gaze of another fellow deputy, Joey Hudson. Joey was a mystery to say the least. She didn't talk to me much, and always seemed to be looking down her nose at me for being a rookie, despite the fact that I'd been a cop a couple counties over for five years prior to joining the Hope County Sheriff's Department.

For a moment, I thought she might actually say something to me, but then the Sheriff was helping me into the chopper. After the Marshal and the Sheriff got settled, the helicopter rose into the air and everyone of my wolf instincts itched to leap back to the ground. My stomach lurched and I closed my eyes to help calm myself, and then felt a touch on my leg. The Marshal was handing me a phone with a video cued up to play. I watched it, and the things I saw gave me goose bumps and a chill down my spine. The Sheriff and Marshal began speaking to one another and I noticed the massive statue of our suspect looming close by. _Jeez, this guy must be a real narcissist._ As I eyed the statue, my instincts started whispering for me to leave this place. That there was danger near.

I followed the Marshal and the Sheriff into the little church. The Eden's Gate people were putting me on edge. Almost every one of them was armed to the teeth, and they all looked like they may have itchy trigger fingers. _So much for peaceful, Pratt._ Wary, I looked toward the target. Joseph Seed was not a small man by any means, but he was average; a far cry from the larger than life image that mounted the hill a few miles away. His hair line and yellow lensed aviators reminded me of my grandfather, but the marks on his body; they horrified me. _Lust, Sloth, Greed…_ The lunatic had sins carved into his skin alongside his tattoos. My eye caught movement behind him and I shifted my focus while still keeping a part of me aware of what was transpiring around me.

A man who looked to be close to my age was there to the left. He didn't look like the rest of the cult people, as he was well dressed and looked to be clean, though I could scent the blood clinging to his scent like a deathly perfume. I recognized him from a photo I'd seen at briefing: John Seed, Joseph's little brother.

The Eden's Gate people were milling around me, Whitehorse, and the Marshal. Everything inside of me was screaming now. _**RUN! DANGER IS HERE!**_ But my job meant I was anchored to my spot, and for a brief moment I felt a bit of relief as Joseph sent his men out. That lasted only until two more people moved behind him.

Faith Seed, a pretty young woman who looked like she should be in a country home magazine, not here, in a cult compound. She looked at us though she may have wanted us to come make daisy chains with her, as she held knife to each of our throats. A cloying, sickly sweet smell came from her making my nose tingle and I knew if I were to get close to her that it would seriously fuck me up.

A red glint on the other side quickly grabbed my attention. Jacob Seed, the eldest Seed. The scent I got from him was confusing. It was earthy, like a forest after a storm, but it too was shaded in blood and death, and woven into it was the scent of wolves, but he was so clearly human. _Big guy,_ _aren't you._ My amber gaze traveled his form without hesitation, and I couldn't deny liking what I saw. He was well-muscled, and covered in scars as well, but I could tell that these were earned from battle. I could feel a dangerous attraction uncurling low in my belly. My eyes made their way to his face, and realized that he was staring at me too. His eyes had a hard glint to them, but it also seemed to hold some heat behind it, though that could just be my imagination. I doubted he liked me much since I was here to take his brother away. I was sure though, just from his stance, that if he were a wolf he'd be an alpha. He stood like a leader who wouldn't tolerate their orders not being followed to the letter.

"Rookie," the marshal snatched my attention back. "Cuff this son of a bitch!"

I eyed Joseph Seed for a moment, and then did as I was told. He was compliant, volunteering even. There was no struggle. He just insisted that God would not let us take him, as he let me walk him out of the church; right to the chopper where he got in willingly. The chaos was brewing around us as his followers were growing rabid, and I was fighting the urge to shift and fight.

Suddenly, the cultists were attacking—hanging off of the chopper and trying to get to their leader as it rose into the air. I kept the Marshal in the helicopter just as he was almost yanked out. And then there was a jolt before the helicopter faltered in the air before descending in a deadly, dizzying spiral to the ground below. Some part of my brain noted Joseph casually humming Amazing Grace as though we were in the pews on a Sunday, and not trapped in a burning machine, falling out of the sky. Then we crashed hard into the trees banging roughly into the trunks and branches on the way down to the unforgiving ground, and my head slammed into the wall of the cab, effectively knocking me out.


	2. Captured

So much had happened in the past six weeks since the crash landing after the failed arrest of Joseph Seed, or "The Father" as he liked to be called. I'd fought my instincts to shift and run like hell for home, telling myself that I needed to find the others. What a fool I had been. I'd had to fight tooth and nail to survive after uniting with the Marshal, only to be separated once more before being found by that good ol' boy, Dutch. He was quite the character. He actually reminded me of my other grandpa that I actually liked, which led me to trust him fairly quickly.

He'd started me off on a series of missions. After everything he'd told me about the hell that the cult had been raining down on the good people of Hope County, it was clear that they needed some sort of help, and it didn't seem like anyone else in the state gave a damn. He also gave me a much better, more detailed briefing on what exactly I was dealing with here. "The Father" and his "Heralds" had militarized their forces, slowly, until they were a force that could hardly be reckoned with by the innocent people here. They'd also taken my friends and the Marshal, and divided them up among themselves, daring me to come be captured. Finally, we began to figure out who was where, and what was what.

"You're friend Pratt is being held by Jacob over in the mountains it seems," Dutch informed me over the radio on my hip. "Eli said they saw him while they were scouting the Veteran's Center."

"Good," I replied in a determined tone. "I'm going to go get him." I was already stripping my clothes off. The Veteran's Center was in the Whitetail Mountains, and it would be easiest to travel as a wolf. Less chance of getting shot by one of those damned peggies so long as I kept to the woods.

"Now, Kid," Dutch was using his take it easy tone on me. "Jacob is far too dangerous to mess with. You get too close and you'll be the next meal he feeds his Judges."

Sighing, I rolled my clothes as tightly as possible, stuffing them into one of my boots, sticking my pistol and extra magazines in the other, before placing it all in my raccoon hide knapsack before radioing back, "Dutch, I will be fine. I promise. I've lasted this long, haven't I?" I sat on my knees in a relatively short patch of grass and waited for his response. He didn't need to know that I was alive because my werewolf genes gave me fast healing and the ability to get places quickly and without really being seen.

There was a long silence, which was probably due to Dutch grumbling under his breath about me, before the radio's static came in again, "That's because you've been keeping to the edges of the Holland Valley and the Henbane. That sadist, John, and flower-pickin' Faith, ain't nearly as cunning or ruthless as Jacob."

"I'll be cautious Dutch." I stood and got ready to put the radio in my bag too. "I'll radio you when I settle in for the night somewhere safe. Over and Out." I didn't give him a chance to respond as I shut my radio off and tucked into the same boot my pistol was occupying.

Quickly, I tied up the bag that I'd made during my first week out here. Made out of an actual raccoon to look as realistic as possible, anyone who saw me as a wolf would think I was just hauling off my next meal. Pretty clever, if I did say so myself. Letting the shift roll through me, I picked up my bag in my teeth and trotted off towards the heavy scent of wolves and blood that came down from the mountains on the wind.

Traveling was easy as a wolf. I could stick to the shadows of the forest, away from any roads or open areas and rarely be bothered by anything. Most animals, predator and prey alike somehow knew that I was not a normal wolf. They could feel that I was something _other_. So the prey animals mainly tried to stay away from me, which rarely worked if I was after them, due to my genes giving me a speed boost. The predators generally gave me a wide birth. Those who didn't usually didn't live to have learned any lesson from their mistake. I'd already killed a cougar in the Henbane area. Granted, it had been drugged out of its mind with that stuff Faith made called Bliss—the same cloying, too sweet smell that had clung to her when I first saw her in that church had come off of that thing in waves—but being high as a kite made the thing more difficult to kill than anything I'd ever encountered before. It was weird as fuck too. Despite being a creature of the supernatural, I had never experienced anything like what had happened during that battle. It still freaked me out and it had been weeks.

I finally made it into the Whitetail Mountains right about the time that the sun hit that golden hour, making the scenery look so magical you'd think nothing bad could ever happen here. I decided now was as good a time as any to find a good spot to rest for a bit. I could continue closer to the Veteran's Center under the cover of darkness, luckily tonight wasn't supposed to be a full moon so my white coat wouldn't glow in the blackness like a beacon for bullets.

I had just found some caves when the most annoying sound started wrenching at my ears. An elk—a fucking loud ass elk—sounded like it was just over the cliff above me. I flattened my ears and growled low in my throat. Stupid fucker wouldn't shut up. I could tell it was injured from the sound it was making, if it wasn't careful it would draw in other predators that would see it as an easy meal. My stomach growled to remind me that I'd not had anything since the rabbit yesterday. I sat back on my haunches for a moment to listen to the sounds of the elk's pained bleating. If it was injured, it would likely be much easier to take down by myself than the last one I'd tried to kill had been. Not only would it shut the damn thing up, but it would give me a good meal or two which would keep my strength up for Pratt's upcoming rescue. That was some logic I couldn't deny. Making my mind up I stashed my knapsack and worked my way around to the top of the cliff.

I was already salivating as I came to the clearing where the creature was sounding off like a siren. I would make this a quick and clean kill as I wasn't a cruel beast, but I certainly was a hungry one. It wasn't until I broke through the thicket into the clearing that I could hear the metallic edge to the elk's sounds and by then it was too late. I saw the metal tower with the satellite dish hooked up to a radio just before men began rushing me.

"We got one!" somebody yelled in excitement as he came at me with what looked like a modified cattle prod.

I dodged easily as another leveled what looked like a dart gun at me, "Praise the Father!"

"Jacob!" Another yelled as three of them holding metal panels made a partial box around me, my only way out being forward past the one with the prod and the other with the dart gun, "This one looks good, don't it?"

My ears involuntarily perked forward as I heard someone come out of the woods behind them, "It does." Jacob Seed came behind the two pointing their non-lethal weapons at me, with a wicked smirk on his face as he leered. Of course he wouldn't recognize me as a wolf, but his being here made me even more uneasy. He seemed to laugh at my snarling form, "Big and strong, everything a Judge needs to be. Get it tranquilized, then load it up."

He turned to walk away, and the men moved in on me. The ones holding panels began closing in to trap me. I growled viciously and snapped my teeth at them in warning. I was leaving here one way or another. Whether they were alive or not when I did was going to depend on if they wised up and listened to that small part of them that was whispering that no wolf should be quite this large or look so intelligent.

The idiot with the cattle prod set their deaths in motion as he laughed sadistically, before jabbing me in the neck, causing electricity to crackle though my fur and jolt through my body. My muscles seized for a moment before I was on him ripping out his throat, his screams cutting off abruptly as his vocal cords were effectively removed. A look at the one holding the dart gun caused him to nearly drop the weapon, before he fumbled and actually did drop it in the grass. I pounced and he tripped over his own feet trying to get away, falling to the ground pathetically. I was grabbing his neck in my jaws before he could even think to draw his weapon from its holster—**CRUNCH—**his vertebrae cracked between my teeth as I bit down. I looked over at the other three, sizing them up. They were clearly afraid. All of them were now holding their panels like shields, and one had very clearly pissed himself. _You thought you could hunt wolves with no consequences? You thought you could take ME down? Have fun regretting your lives for what's left of them._ I charged at the one to the left and he dropped his panel in an attempt to shoulder the rifle he was carrying. He got it up and I went low as he fired off a few rounds, quickly maneuvering to get behind him so I could rip out his hamstring. As he fell to his knees I grabbed the barrel of the gun in my teeth as he tried to swing it to face me, already pulling the trigger, causing bullets to fly, my grip forcing it to point right at one of the remaining peggies ' heads , bullet going right through the guys forehead in a explosion of red mist. The sound waves from the shots caused my vision to vibrate and made me a bit dizzy as my ears rang, but I didn't waste any time and quickly finished off the downed man by ripping out his throat. I was about to lunge at the remaining peggy, when I heard a voice to my right that made me stop and look despite myself.

Jacob was kneeling on the ground about twenty yards away, holding the previously dropped dart gun, aiming it right at me, "You're mine." The way he said it sounds possessive, as though I'm a jewel just had to have. His eyes, while still hard, held a look of appreciation in them, and some sort of want.

It distracted me and suddenly I felt a sting as a dart embedded itself in the skin of my chest. I growled as a tingle began spreading through my body. _NO. I will not be taken by YOU! _I bare my teeth and barrel towards him. Another sting in my shoulder let me know I'd been hit once again, the tingly feeling getting stronger. _Just a few more yards. _A prick in my forehead and I was suddenly feeling sluggish. _No. I'm so close I can—_ another dart to the chest and I went down, thudding to the ground just a few feet from him. I can't feel my body anymore. My head was so fuzzy now, I just wanted to sleep. _No I must keep my eyes open. I must stay awake. _I kept my eyes on Jacob as he neared me, not quite ready to let go of the tenuous hold I had on my consciousness.

He knelt down, and looked me over, before looking at the pants-wetting peggy who was still left breathing, "You pissed your pants, Dave."

I heard the man swallow roughly, as though he'd been crying, "You saw what it did to the rest of them. It was like a demon! I was scared out of my mind, Jac—Sir!"

"Fear is weakness, Dave," Jacob said as he looked back down at me, and I could swear he actually saw the woman through my wolf eyes, just for a moment. "The weak must be culled," Before I could even register it, he pulled his red pistol from his hip and fired it without looking away from my eyes. I heard a body dropping to the ground gracelessly, and Jacob holstered his gun. He reached a hand out to stroke the fur on my cheek before cradling my head in a surprisingly gentle way, "Now it's time for you to go to sleep, Pup. You've fought it long enough." He stuck me with what I assume to be a syringe right in my neck and the world faded to black with his voice echoing through my head, "You're mine, now."


	3. Collared

The stench of old blood and filth assaulted my nose, rousing me from my involuntary slumber. I blinked my eyes open, groaning a little. It was dark wherever I was, but what startled me was that I was in a cage; an extra large dog kennel by the looks of it. I stood, muscles shaky from lying still for so long, and my back hit the top of the kennel. _I have to get out of here_. I pushed against the walls with my body and my paws but they didn't budge. _What the hell?_

The darkness was whipped away, revealing the glow of barrel fires lighting up the courtyard of an old mansion. I was face to face with Jacob Seed. I stared him down, not moving a muscle to even growl at him. I couldn't deny that he was handsome, but the warmth spreading in my belly was inappropriate to say the least. He was the enemy. He was watching me with interested eyes, "Hey there, Pup, did you have a nice nap?" _Who are you calling 'pup'? _I glared at him, as he leaned in closer to the cage door. "Feeling hungry? I've got you some food here," He brought a dish from the top of the kennel half filled with chunks of raw meat smelling of elk. My tongue darted out to lick my chops before I could stop it, as a small whine left my throat. Jacob smiled with what I could only describe as wicked pleasure, "Thought so. I'll feed you, but if you bite me there will be consequences." He reached and unlatched the cage door, opening it slightly, waiting for me to attack.

I wasn't some stupid and unthinking beast, I could control my urges. I refused to be the beast I could tell he was expecting. I backed myself as far into the cage as I could, still staring at him. He reached in and placed the bowl just out of my reach. I'd have to come closer to him if I wanted to eat. I took a step forward and he didn't remove his scarred hand from the dish. I wished so desperately to be able to roll my eyes and turn away from him, but my stomach was running things now, and it ordered my legs to take me forward. The meat was calling to me and I carefully put my nose in the bowl and took a bite.

Jacob didn't flinch at having a huge wolf right in his face, and that was interesting enough. But then he shocked me by placing a hand on top of my head between my ears. I stilled, waiting for some cruelty, but instead he began to rub behind my ears, "You're an odd thing aren't you. Maybe you were some sinner's pet before we took over." I had never been pet before, as most people ran the other way when they saw a huge white wolf around. The sensation was soothing, and my eyes closed on their own as I kept eating. "That's a good girl. You finish this and we'll introduce you to your new pack mates."

_Pack mates? _Did he plan to put me in with other wolves? That would be a mistake. I brought my head up to look at him, and was met with a borderline adoring gaze. _And he thinks I'm the odd one._

"All done, Pup?" He took the bowl out, before stepping out of the way, letting me see what looked like a cattle chute behind him, "Let's go."

Suddenly the cage tilted forward, forcing me to step out before I tumbled onto my face. I looked over at him and he shooed me toward the chute. I glanced around for any alternate escape, but I was just in a bedroom sized enclosure. Everything was gated and latched up tight. As soon as I stepped in to the chute, closed behind me and I just managed to get my tail out of the way. I huffed in annoyance and walked forward until I came to another gate, and looked out the side of the chute at Jacob hoping to convey my impatience. He pulled the lever and it popped open to reveal another large enclosure with about five other wolves moving around in it.

They were all dirty, looking half mad. Taking a sniff, I could tell why. They were on the Bliss as well. _Great, being trapped with five junkie wolves is just what I need. _I didn't move so as not to catch their attention. Maybe if I refused to leave the chute they'd just let me go back to my nice solitary cage.

I felt a push on my backside and looked to see Jacob with his hand sticking through the bars of the chute pushing me forward, like I was just some dumb steer and not a dangerous wolf, "You have to join them. No special treatment unless you prove yourself, Pup." _Well, fuck._

I growled quietly to myself, and stepped out of the chute. The other wolves stopped what they were doing, and cast their wild eyes on me. One of them was rather brave, most likely due to its Bliss high, and it snarled at me raising its hackles and stalking towards me. I braced myself and snarled back louder. It didn't take the hint and it lunged for me. But the drugs were messing with its mind and it slammed into the side of the chute as I dodged it. I watched it shake off the impact, then it was coming at me again. Once more I slipped out of its path, and caught sight of Jacob. He was standing at the fence, wide stance, one arm across his chest, the other raising his hand up to stroke that blood red beard of his thoughtfully. He looked disappointed for some reason. Then it dawned on me. _The weak must be culled. _He had seen me tear through his men like an unstoppable force, and here I was dodging one angry, Blissed-out wolf like a scared dog. He wanted blood. He wanted me to show him that I was not weak. He wanted a slaughter. If that was what it took for me to not be on the receiving end of a bullet, I'd give it to him.

_I'm sorry about this, _I thought as I went for the wolf this time, _but it's you or me. _It realized too late that it was no match for me and I grabbed its leg in my jaws, biting down so hard there was an audible crack. It howled in pain and outrage, the sound was chilling to say the least. I tried to bite back in an attempt to distract me from its leg, and I took the opportunity to go for its belly, ripping it open in a mess of blood and guts. A debilitating injury for any animal, the wolf collapsed to the ground in a pool of its own blood, whimpering. It had suffered long enough, so I quickly took its neck and shook it as hard as I could while biting down with all my strength. The creature went limp and I dropped it to the dirt unceremoniously.

I glanced at the other wolves, waiting for more attacks, but all four of them were crowded up on top of one another at the other side of the pen, doing their best to get as far away from me as possible, whining with their tails tucked between their legs. I growled at them menacingly. _I'm sorry about this too, _I tried to convey the message with my eyes, but they were all too afraid to meet my gaze. I gathered my muscles preparing to pounce when a sharp whistle pierced the air. My head shot towards the sound.

Jacob was beaming with pride, and clapping his hands roughly, "Good Job, Pup. Good girl." Before I could control myself my tail wagged just a little. "Let her out," he called over to his men at the main gate.

They hurried to unlatch it, and it swung open. I was rooted to the spot. _He's going to let me free, just like that? _ I cocked my head a bit.

Jacob came and stood outside the opening and pointed at the ground in front of him, "Come here, Pup." I hesitated for a second then came to stand in front of him. He knelt down slowly, taking my jaw in his hand and raising my face to look at his, "You're mine, and you've proven yourself not to be a mindless beast. So I'm giving you some freedom. No cages. But you do have to wear this until I'm certain I can trust you." He held his other hand up expectantly, barking out a name, "Peaches!"

"Y-yes sir?" A disheveled, cowering man hurried over, and I did a double take. It was Pratt. My self-assured coworker had been reduced to this shivering skin suit of anxiety and nerves. _Oh what have they done to you, Staci?_ He seemed so afraid, but I couldn't tell if it was me or Jacob that scared him the most.

"Collar," Jacob grunted out, tone dripping with irritation.

"R-r-right," Staci fumbled with something in his hands for a sec then handed it over to Jacob. As soon as it was in Jacob's grasp, Staci backed away quickly.

Jacob held the thing up, taking my attention away from my former coworker, "You be a good and obedient Judge and I'll take it off." It was a thick leather collar that was dyed blood red, a matching leash attached to it. He fastened it around my neck and the weight of it was foreign. I shook my body, adjusting to the obstruction to my fur, and stared at Jacob as he looked away to bark some orders at his men. _And my former police chief said I'd never make it as an undercover cop._

I had been Jacob's personal Judge for three weeks. We went everywhere together. Checking on the people that were locked in cages awaiting something called a trial, overseeing his followers as they trained Judges. Every day was a routine. Get up, eat, work out, monitor Judge and soldier training, eat again, inspect supplies, and do paperwork, run trials, eat again, bed, then repeat. It was monotonous and boring, and I missed my daily runs. I sighed as I laid by Jacob's bed. He was going over paperwork at his desk and I was bored as hell.

"Peaches, coffee!" Jacob shouted abruptly.

I watched as Pratt ran in with a steaming mug, contents sloshing out onto his hands, making him wince, "H-here you are, S-sir." He set it on Jacobs desk with shaking hands.

"Get on your knees by the wolf and wait for my next order, you waste of oxygen." Jacob ordered without looking at him.

Staci blanched. This was hardly the worst thing I'd seen Jacob make him do. Just yesterday he'd been made to lick the entire floor clean after he'd spilled a little bit of Jacob's dinner. Stacie came over by me and stood on his knees, shaking while staring straight ahead. _Poor guy._ I licked his hand in an effort to comfort him. He responded by flinching violently away, and screaming as though I'd bitten him. I jerked away from him, startled, flattening my ears. _Jeez, Pratt!_

Jacob reacted with a growl, "Peaches, what gave you the idea that it was okay to do anything I didn't tell you to?" He stalked over to Pratt and grasped his shirt collar to raise him from the ground. "I think some time in a cage would do you some good." Jacob began dragging Staci from the room by his shirt, and then whistled for me to follow them.

I got up, taking note of the leash trailing from my collar, but trotted after Jacob anyways. _I just have to make sure Pratt will be okay, that's all._

We arrived at the filth ridden cages and Jacob tossed Staci into one, "You should take some time to think about your disobedience, Peaches." Staci didn't respond, just curled up in the fetal position in the dirt and sobbed silently. It pained me to see him like this. Jacob looked down at me, suddenly realizing I'd followed him down here without him leading me, "Well, I'll be damned."

He picked up the leash and led me around the main building of the Veteran's Center, where he'd never taken me before. I was shocked. It was actually pretty back here. Grassy, with no cages, just open space. I perked my ears as my legs were straining not to break into a run. He clicked the leash off, "Go run, you deserve it."

I did just that, running around and around the space, before I finally laid down and just rolled in the sweet smelling grass. God, it felt so good. I stopped, and just laid there for a moment, before looking over to Jacob. He was sitting in the grass, sun shining on his face with his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful in the moment, and it was drawing me to him. I made my way over to him silently, still a bit surprised that he was so at ease with me after I'd initially tried to attack him. I ended up right in front of him, and he still didn't appear to realize I was there. My mischievous side got the better of me and I gave him a long lick right up the side of his face, causing his beard to stick up at an odd angle.

He sputtered and the slightest chuckle escaped his lips as he eyed me, "Brave, aren't you?" He reached out and ran his fingers through my white fur, still stained with the blood of the wolf I had slaughtered for him that first day. "You need a bath, Pup." I whined agreeably. I was tired of smelling like death.

Standing, he patted my side and went to turn on a hose. He went to pick up my collar but I went and stood right by the hose, ready to get clean. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you understood every word I said," he shook his head sheepishly, picking up the hose and beginning to spray me down with a small smile on his face.

This was the most relaxed I'd seen him the entire time I'd been here. As if all it took was doing something normal and non-cult related to break the military man armor he wore all the time, and reveal the man beneath it all. I suddenly needed to make that smile bigger. He was just finishing up soaking my fur when I snatched the hose from him and angled it to spray him down.

For a moment, I thought I'd made the mistake of my life as he just stood there and looked at me. But then his lips cracked into a smile. The biggest and most amazing smile I'd ever seen. And he laughed, a real, hearty laugh that made him toss his head back. My heart was flipping in my chest, and I suddenly realized I may fall for this man. He stopped laughing and crouched a bit, and I mimicked the action, "Is that how it's going to be, Pup?" He jumped towards me, grabbing for the hose and it started a water wrestling match that eventually involved soap, making things even more slippery. His laugh kept ringing out over the yard, and I decided it was my favorite sound.

Finally, I was clean, and Jacob shut off the hose. I shook my fur out, slinging water everywhere, covering Jacob who laughed again before wiping his face on the back of his arm, "Alright, play time is over, Pup. Time to get cleaned up for dinner."

_Gosh, is it already that late?_ A look at the orange and pink clouds in the sky confirmed it. I hadn't realized we'd been out here that long. Jacob headed inside and I followed him to his room, making a beeline for my spot beside the bed. Usually he'd go change in the bathroom when he went in there to do whatever else he did. But today he was stripping his jacket and shirt off the second he closed the door behind us. I tried to look away, but his body was absolutely delicious looking.

While he was scarred all over, it didn't take away from the fact that he had perfectly sculpted muscles. A small part of my mind supplied an image of my tongue tracing the lines of his abs, and a rush of liquid heat went through me. _No, no. Cannot be thinking like that right now. Not like this. I should just—_ my mind went blank as he dropped his pants. The man went commando apparently, and it was no wonder why with a package that big. Underwear probably was too tight and restricting. _I'll show him something tight. _I shook my head and watched him out of the corner of my gaze as he picked everything up to lay out on a chair by the fan. My eyes were eating up the sight of his muscles all flexing as he moved. All too soon he was disappearing behind the bathroom door, and I groaned quietly. Now, I was stuck as a wolf and all hot and bothered. _I should've just looked away dammit._


	4. Cruel

It was Sunday, the one day where the routine had begun to vary after our little water fight, though now we had a new routine every other day where we would go play in the yard for at least a couple of hours. On the past few Sundays since our little water fight, Jacob would leave me for a few hours, locked in his room with Pratt, a guard posted outside of the door. But that meant that I didn't have the opportunity to shift back into my human skin, for fear of revealing my secret to Pratt. My body was beginning to ache a little from staying a wolf for so long. I hadn't gone this long without shifting in my entire life, and I could tell things were becoming strained. Today was different, however. When Jacob started to walk out the door he called me with him. I leapt at the chance. Being trapped in here with Staci was excruciating. He had started whimpering to himself and muttering under his breath. He'd stare at me for long periods of time with a blank look on his face, which made me very uncomfortable. The chance to get out of having to deal with that was very welcome.

I stayed on Jacob's heels as we made our way towards his red pick-up. _Are we going somewhere?_ He opened the door and ushered me in. The leap was small and I clambered over to the passenger side as he got settled behind the wheel. Starting the engine, he rolled the window on my side down just a bit, before turning on the radio. I was surprised when cult music wasn't what was on, but rather, Black Sabbath. It was quiet though, not turned up to a level that would be heard on the outside even with the window down. We started off down the road, and my nose found the window and started taking stock of all the scents rushing into the truck cab. Mountain air was refreshing, and I'd forgotten what clean air smelled like. My tongue lolled out of my mouth like a common dog, and I slurped it back in, embarrassed. Quickly, I looked to see if Jacob had seen, but he had his eyes on the road. I didn't like the serious edge that his face was taking. That same hard glare from when I had first seen him. It didn't suit his features at all. I turned and nosed my way under his arm, head laying on his lap as my body took up the rest of the front seat.

He looked down at me, and I could see a smile tugging at his lips. C_'mon, I know you like it when I act like a pet for you. _I let my tongue flop out as I panted in a relaxed, happy way, making the smile actually come out, and he reached down and scratched behind my ears. _But am I really acting?_ The thought took me off guard for a moment, but then he was rubbing my belly and I was rolling onto my back to give him better access. It was heaven. The only way it could have been more perfect was if I was in my human skin and he was doing that. I mentally groaned at the thought.

I was content to lay there just like that for the rest of the ride, until the tires crunched on gravel and I hurried to sit up and survey our surroundings. We were back at that same little church where I'd cuffed Joseph Seed that fateful night months ago. A chill ran through me. _What the hell are we doing here?_

Jacob parked, before climbing out and motioning for me to hop out as well. I landed heavily, and looked around suspiciously. He patted my shoulder and headed for the church, unaware of my wariness. I followed him in and saw that the little building was packed with people. My hackles rose just slightly and my lip curled a little, low growl emitting from my throat without me realizing it.

"Everyone, Brother Jacob is here," Joseph's voice resounded through the air, and there were many ooh and ahs from the peggies as they watched Jacob walk towards the pulpit. Then, they saw me, and the room erupted in gasps and harsh whispers accompanied by worried glances. Even the great Joseph faltered at the sight of me for a moment, "Ah, my children, there is no need to fear my brother's Judge, as it will only hunt down sinners, and you are all pure!" I didn't miss the hard look he gave Jacob as we passed to stand behind him. Someone was in trouble.

The sermon went for what seemed like forever, but I sat on my butt for the whole thing, finding spots on the wall to stare at, or people to silently judge and make up life stories for. There was so much tone deaf singing I was certain my hearing would never be the same. Finally, when it was all over and Joseph and his siblings told everyone good bye, we left the church and walked silently towards a small house.

Jacob and I were about to step in when Joseph protested, "Can't you leave the Judge outside Brother?"

"No," Jacob answered bluntly before crossing the threshold with his hand on my back. I heard Joseph sigh in exasperation as Jacob took a seat in one of the arm chairs and I laid down at his feet, taking up a good portion of the floor space in the smaller living room.

Faith sat on a couch with John, and Joseph took the armchair on the opposite side of the room, eyeing me with disdain, "Why did you bring a Judge to the sermon, Brother? It terrified my children."

Jacob let out a dark chuckle, "Fear is weakness brother, perhaps your children are not worthy." Joseph's mouth opened like he was about to say something, but Jacob continued. "She goes where I go, Brother."

"But you didn't bring it last time, or the time before. You've never brought a judge to worship before," Joseph was upset, and I was enjoying it far more than I probably should.

"She's special," Jacob shrugged. "I've never had a Judge who was as obedient and trustworthy as her. She wouldn't hurt one of your children without me giving the order."

That shut Joseph up for the moment, and Faith took the opportunity to speak, "I think she's beautiful, Jacob. Can I?" She moved to reach toward me, and I was sure if I should snarl at her or if I should just let her pet me like a dog.

"Should be fine," Jacob grunted, and I held perfectly still.

Faith was like a child the moment she touched my fur. Cooing over how soft I was, and how I was such a "good wolfie". It actually got my tail to wag just for a second until John cleared his throat.

"Can we get down to business?" He asked impatiently. "I have sinners needing my help to reach Atonement."

"Of course," Joseph said clasping his hands together in his lap and crossing his legs. Faith didn't move from her spot at my side, stroking my fur the whole time, and I hated how much I liked it.

They all began to talk about things like how their regions were doing, updates on how the resistance was failing, how their doomsday prepping was going. None of it really caught my attention until Joseph got a perplexed look on his face, "Has anyone heard anything about the Deputy?"

To my surprise Jacob spoke up, "She's not been sighted in months. There's been no activity, no killings, just disappeared." It's a good thing that the idea of werewolves being real was not a popular one, because otherwise he'd be smart enough to realize that he'd caught me right about the time I had disappeared and that it was just too much of a coincidence.

John snickered, "I bet she got eaten. You know we'd have heard if one of our men had managed to kill her."

Joseph ran his hands over his face, "She was the key to all of this. We needed her. How could all of you just let her disappear?"

"Father," Faith said with a sweet but flat tone. "No one _let_ her do anything. There was no way to keep tabs on her. She was like a ghost."

"I know, my Faith," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He stood then, "No matter, we will have to proceed without her. Convert her friends. Saving them is the least we can do for her."

"We done here?" Jacob began to rise from his chair as well. Faith got to her feet and I followed suit, stretching a bit.

"Yes," Joseph sighed. "Go back to your region, all of you. I'll see you all next Sunday."

The ride home felt different than the ride to the compound. I stayed by the window this time. Before today I had mostly forgotten that Jacob had actively been hunting me. That reminder clashed with the feelings I had growing in my chest for him. Now they all thought I was dead. But I knew if I somehow managed to leave his side that he would likely connect the dots when his precious Judge disappeared at the same time that the Deputy came back from the dead.

A few days later, Jacob was sitting at his desk looking over some files, and I was laid out beside the bed lightly dozing, when Staci came in with Jacob's coffee. I didn't pay much attention as it was a normal occurrence, but then the sound of breaking glass and a pained growl snapped my eyes open and I jumped to my feet. It appeared that Staci had tripped, causing him to fall to his knees and let go of the coffee cup, sending it flying through the air, splashing the piping hot liquid all over Jacob, before shattering against the floor.

Jacob practically threw Pratt at the broken cup, yelling for him to clean it up as he rushed to the bathroom to get some cool water on his burns. I was looking at the bathroom door when I heard Stacie muttering, "Finally, it's my chance."

I turned my attention to him a moment too late, and he wrapped his arm around my neck tightly, just before stabbing me with a large shard of the broken mug. I yelped in pain and surprise. Jacob opened the door and paused for a small second as he took in what was happening. Stacie had managed to get in a few more stabs and I was bleeding heavily. I tried to shake him off, but my paws slipped in the growing puddle of my own blood beneath me, and I fell right onto that shard in his hand, sending it into my gut. I howled in pain and tried my damnedest to bite him or something, but he had a surprisingly strong grip that kept me immobile as he pulled the shard out, just to sink it into me once more.

**BANG!**

A single shot rang out and Pratt went slack around me. Jacob rushed to my side. He was shouting something, but my head was buzzing too much for me to understand. He looked like was panicking, and the red burns from the coffee were bright against his skin.

Several people rushed into the room and there were hands on me everywhere. I was getting dizzy. Suddenly Jacob was in my sight again, petting my head and whispering something before I felt a slight sting in my neck. The last thing I saw was his worried gaze before I went out like a light.

My body felt so heavy as I came to. Early morning light was making the whole room hazy. Or perhaps that was just me. I went to roll onto my back when I realized there was something behind me. I looked down to see that I was covered in a blanket, and turned to see what was keeping me from rolling. Jacob was there, sleeping, worry etched into his face, my movement making him tighten an arm around my middle, slightly jarring my injuries and I groaned.

His eyes snapped open and instead of relief, there was absolute bewilderment in his gaze. He sat up in a blur and raised his pistol at me, "Who the fuck are you?"

I looked down at myself. _Oh shit, I shifted. _ I raised my eyes to meet his, panicking now. This had never happened before. "J-Jacob it's me, your wolf," I held the blanket to my heavily bandaged chest, trying to look as non-threatening as I could.

"The fuck you are," He growled. "You're the Deputy, I'd recognize you anywhere."

"Yes," I conceded, dropping the blankets to expose the bloodied bandaged on my chest and stomach. "I'm also your wolf, Pup." I willed him to see that I was telling the truth.

He stared into my golden orbs for a moment, "Let's say I believe you. Explain."

"You're going to think I'm nuts, but I'm a werewolf," I saw his finger move for the trigger. "I'm not lying I promise. You caught me in the woods by your wolf beacon right? I killed four of your men like it was nothing." I eyed him for a response but he stayed silent. "You killed the fifth for being weak. Then you drugged me and brought me here. I killed a Judge, and you made me your personal Judge."

He nodded slightly, but kept the gun trained on me, "Why didn't you fight back and escape?"

I blushed. This wasn't a question I wanted to answer but my life was on the line, "Because I like you."

"Bullshit," He scoffed. "Were you spying for the resistance?"

"No," I sighed. "They don't know what I am."

"Then why?" he demanded of me.

"I told you, it's because I like you." I softened my eyes at him. "C'mon Jacob, you know it's true, why else would I behave the way I did, getting close to you, and acting more like a lap dog than a wolf?"

He thought quietly for a moment, never taking his eyes or his aim off of me. Then he frowned, "I got naked in front of you."

My face heated up, "I know."

"Did you look?" He sounded almost like a petulant child now. Who knew this hardened war vet had a thing about modesty.

"I tried not to," I started with an apologetic smile.

"But you did anyway?" I nodded, hating that I was unable to read his expression. A wicked glint came to his eye, "Did you like it?"

If my face was pink before, it was tomato red now, "Erm, well I—"

"That's a yes," He dropped the gun, but still eyed me as though I may try to hurt him. "How many of you are there?"

"Here now, or in Hope County, or what?" I was confused. Did he think there was a werewolf resistance to Eden's Gate, now?

"Hope County."

"Just me, as far as I know," I shrugged. I honestly wasn't sure how many werewolves were even in the state. It wasn't like we held conventions.

"Why now?" he asked out of the blue after interrogating me about all aspects of my life.

"I'm sorry, I don't unders—"

"Why reveal yourself now?" He was still wary of me, but he didn't seem quite as tense.

"Honestly I didn't mean to," I looked down at the blanket I was picking at. "I think that my body just needed to shift back so badly that it used my unconscious state to do so."

"So you can't just stay a wolf?" he asked, curiosity coloring his tone and face.

"No. You see, being a werewolf Is like being a coin with different sides. The both exist on the same coin, just opposite of one another, it's just a matter of which side is seen. You may see one side, but the other side is there just waiting to be flipped over. My wolf side, and my human side, are the sides that are waiting to be brought into the light, and I can only wait so long before needing to change again."

I knew it was a shitty explanation, be he seemed to understand, "So, the full moon thing is a myth?"

"Yes, and I'm not entirely sure where it came from. Silver is also a myth. I can be killed by pretty much anything. I'm just more resilient than your ordinary wolf, or human. I heal fast."

His eyebrow shot up in disbelief, "Show me."

I glanced down and realized all I had to cover myself were my bandages. "I, um," I hesitated and looked at him.

His eyes held no sympathy, "You saw me naked, now it's time to return the favor." He reached to the bedside table and picked up a knife, handing it to me hilt first.

I took it from him, swallowing my nervousness down, and began cutting away the bandages. When I'd cut all the way down I peeled them away and watched his gaze travel down my body with agonizing slowness. His eyes lingered on each scar, recognizing which ones were fresh and which ones were old. He leaned towards a large angry looking starburst on the right side of my chest above my breast and my breath stopped.

"What happened here?" He pointed, finger grazing over the sensitive scar tissue.

"An Elk," I answered, almost breathless. I wanted so badly for him to touch me again. "I was hotheaded and decided I could take one on by myself. I was wrong. Its antler went right through my chest and collapsed my lung. I laid in the forest for two days before I was healed enough to move. I just never did completely heal." He was dangerously close nuzzling my collarbone at this point, "It's a good reminder not to get into shit I can't handle."

"Can you handle me?" The words were a whisper across my skin, and I shivered, goose bumps appearing on my flesh.

"I can," I whispered back.


	5. Cry

His lips were attacking my throat then, arms encircling my waist as he laid me down against the bed. He was roughly kissing and sucking the tender flesh of my neck, making me gasp as the sensations went straight to my core. I moved my hands under his shirt, sliding my palms over those smooth muscles of his abs and chest before scratching my nails down his back, crying out a little as he bit into the muscle at the juncture of my neck and shoulder.

He moved a hand up to cradle the back of my head and whispered in my ear, "Shhh, Pup. You don't want to wake up everyone in the building do you?" Then he was kissing me hard on the mouth and I couldn't get enough of the taste of him. Our tongues were teasing each other, and he used his free hand to start tweaking my nipple, rolling it between his fingers before massaging the whole breast, rubbing his rough palm over it, making me arch into his touch. I mimicked the action on his chest and he groaned into my mouth, so I did it again, earning a slight moan. I bit his lip, and he pulled back from me, to look me in the eye for a second, and I was afraid he was going to stop. Then he put both of his hands on my breasts and continued tugging my nipples, as he worked magic on the other side of my throat. I was doing okay about keeping quiet until he pushed both breasts together and pinched my nipples at the same time, enveloping one in his warm mouth right after.

"Ooh, mmm," I did my best to stifle the moan that came from my lips as I arched my chest towards him, begging for more of his attention. My hands were grasping at his red hair, trying to hold him there. Finally I gave up and I was digging my fingers into his shirt, in an effort to remove it from him. He sat up and ripped it off, then started unbuttoning his pants. I shooed his hand out of the way as I rose to his level so I could kiss him once more. But not long after, I had moved on to his neck, kissing and nipping the skin there as his fingers dug into my waist. I reached down and cupped my hand around the eager flesh in his pants and whispered into his ear, "I have been wanting to taste you since the moment I saw you dropped your pants that day."

His fingers dug further into my flesh before he leaned into my ear, "Then do it." He said before getting off of the bed and letting the cargos fall to the floor.

I tugged him back to the bed and laid on my stomach, licking down the length of his shaft before taking the whole thing into my mouth. He sucked in a sharp breath, and ended up letting it out in a cussword when I cupped his balls in my hand, massaging gently. I worked my lips and tongue up and down his cock, using my free hand to grab his ass to hold him still. I took him in as deep as I could, just to hear him moan in pleasure. He dug his fingers into my hair holding me there for a moment before he started to rock his hips back and forth, fucking my mouth, and I let him. And god, did it feel amazing to just let him have his way.

Abruptly, he pulled out and picked me up, effortlessly flipping me onto my back. He urged my thighs apart and ran a finger down my dripping slit, before bringing the coated digit to his mouth, licking it clean, but holding my gaze. It was just about the hottest thing I'd ever seen. Then he leaned down and kissed his way from my naval to the apex of my thighs before darting his tongue out to taste me once again. I flinched, and I could feel him chuckle against my sensitive flesh. He knelt down, placing my legs over his shoulders, and wrapped his arms around my thighs, and then he licked me from the bottom to the top, and I was aching for him to just be inside me already. He was licking, sucking and nipping my pink flesh, and I was fighting his hold on me, but he had me right where he wanted me.

"Please," I groaned as he swiped his tongue over my opening. "I need you inside me." My core was feeling empty with nothing to clench around as he was taking me towards the precipice of pleasure.

He let go of me and moved to where the head of his cock was prodding into me slightly. I could feel myself quiver in anticipation. Leaning down, he ran his teeth over the shell of my ear before whispering, "I have been wanting to do this since I first saw you walk into that fucking church." Before I could even respond, he rammed himself into me.

Oh, fuck, he filled me up so well. I had never had anyone that had made me feel like this during sex. I could feel him stretching me, but it felt so damn good. I didn't think I'd ever get enough, as he rocked into me over and over. It couldn't possible get better than his.

I scraped my nails across his skin as he worked me over. I moaned as I threw my head back, "Deeper!"

Jacob changed the angle a bit and was suddenly hitting a new spot that was setting fireworks off behind my eyelids. It felt so fucking good, but he just needed to hit it a bit harder, I was almost there. "Harder," I breathed into his ear, and he delivered; pounding away at that spot as though his life depended on it. My orgasm crashed through me like a tsunami wave, flooding every one of my nerves with pleasure and making me see stars. I sank my teeth into Jacob's shoulder in an effort not to scream out, and it must've pushed him over the edge because he pumped into me even faster, hitting that same spot over and over until I was climaxing once again, muscles clenching onto him and milking him for every last drop of his pleasure. He buried his face in my neck and bit down hard, but pleasure seemed to keep the pain at bay and I sighed, my body going limp around him as his hips stopped rocking and he just rested against me.

We laid there for a moment before he rolled off of me, panting. I stared at the ceiling, dazed. Fuck, he was good. I turned to look at him, meeting his hard stare. "What?" I whispered.

"I," he paused, searching my face. "I don't know what to do with this." He sat up, swinging his legs over the bed, putting his face in his hands, "I mean you're you—the Resistance's war dog, no offense. And I'm me—'The Red Herald', a horseman of the apocalypse."

He groaned in frustration, and I moved to hold him wrapping my arms around him and leaning on his back, "None of that matters, Jacob. We'll figure this out."

He shook his head, "There's no way out of this, not for me. You could shift, and leave Hope County behind, but I can't."

I squeezed him tightly, "I would never leave you, Jacob. I go where you go, remember."

"But why?" He broke from my embrace, turning to face me, shouting, "You barely know me!"

I resisted the urge to shrink back from him, knowing the sign of weakness wouldn't help anything, and reply softly, "I've been living with you for months, which means I know you better than you think." He grimaced, and I continued before he could get a word in, "I know that underneath that hard exterior of yours, there is a man who is gentle, and kind, who wants to forget all about this nonsense." I gestured to everything outside of the room, before continuing, "I know you don't believe any of the crap that your brother spews out of his self righteous mouth, tuning out every one of his sermons that he broadcasts over the radio, listening to things he would never approve of. You may not be part of the resistance but, you certainly are your own one man rebellion. I know everything you've done was because you've put yourself in the role of the obedient soldier, but you don't have to do that anymore. We could leave all of this behind, Jacob," I pleaded with him. "We could be together without any of this bullshit getting in the way," I searched his eyes for a sign that he was really understanding my words. "You can just be you."

He stepped back and sags against the wall, silent for a long time and I keep my eyes on him. "I can't. Joseph will have John hunt me down and drag me back here. And that asshole will want me to atone. There's no point."

"Then we'll have to make sure they can't hunt you," I got down from the bed and crawled over to him, kneeling between his legs and taking his face into my hands. "Jacob, I need you with me." He looked up at me, and I was reminded of a lost little boy, "I need you like I need air to breathe and room to run."

He let out a quiet chuckle, "So wolves mate for life after all, eh?"

"This one wants to," I smile at him, and he pulls me to him, crashing my lips into his.

We stay like that for a moment before he stops and buries his face in my neck, holding me tightly. He takes a shuddering breath, "I don't even know your name."

"Xena." I see him start to laugh, "Don't judge; my parents were geeks."

"That's fitting," He laughed quietly into my hair. "You are quite the warrior, after all."

"I love you, Jacob," I sighed. "But can we please get off of the floor? My ass is cold."

He picked me up and pulled me into his lap as he sat back on the bed, "I love you too, Xena." Hearing my name from his lips made me feel warm inside, and I snuggled into his chest. "How are we going to do this?"

"I know you don't want to kill your brother, but we have to stop Eden's Gate. They are hurting so many innocent people," I leaned to where I could look at his face.

He closed his beautiful blue eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard, "What do you propose?"

I thought for a moment, brows drawing together and he kissed the place where they wrinkle. Then, and idea popped into my head, "We free Whitehorse, Hudson, and the Marshal."

"I'm sorry?" He looked at me, confused.

"We free them all. Take them out of Hope County, and Marshal Burke will alert the National Guard, and whoever else. They'll take care of Eden's gate. You won't have to do anything."

"They'll arrest me, too, Xena," He said quietly.

I froze, "No. No, I won't let them."

He brought a hand up to stroke my cheek with his thumb, "You can't stop them, and we can't just walk out of here. Everyone in the county knows what I look like." He looked away from me sadly, "Besides, prison is what I deserve after everything I've done."

Tears were beginning to fall from my eyes, and I reached up to wipe them away before he could see. I couldn't lose him, not after all this. And I couldn't let the hell devouring Hope County continue. I was so torn. I glanced over at him as he stared dejectedly at the blanket, and spotted the love bite I'd left on his neck during our rutting. A light bulb went off in my brain, "That's it!"

He brought his attention back to me at my sudden outburst, "What's it?"

"I can bite you!" I was excited about the perfect solution I'd found.

Confusion came over his face, "As much as I enjoyed that earlier, I don't see how that's going to solve anything."

"No, I mean I can turn you." I smiled widely, "You can be like me! We could slip right out of Hope County with no one the wiser. They already think I'm dead, we can set fire to this place and they'll think you were, too. We'd be free to start our own lives, wherever we wanted. It's perfect."

His eyes widened, "You can do that?" He brought a hand up to the mark I'd left on his neck, "But didn't you already bite me?"

"I didn't break the skin," I explained, moving to where I was sitting and facing him. "It doesn't work otherwise."

He nodded, "Right."

I had a disheartening realization just then, "Do you want that? I know that's a big thing to ask of someone. Literally life-altering."

"I don't really know," He replied in a voice that was just barely louder than a whisper, that lost-boy look back in his eyes.

I cocked my head, "You don't have to decide now. I can give you some time to consider it." My ears picked up on approaching footsteps, and I dove under the covers, "I have to shift now, we have company."

Jacob didn't have a chance to respond before I was back to being a wolf and someone knocked at the door.

"Jacob," Faith's sweet voice came through. "I heard about your wolf. I wanted to see how she was doing. "

He stumbled off of the bed to grab his clothes off of the floor, calling out, "Uh, yeah give me a second. I'm just getting dressed." He shrugged on his shirt, covering up those perfect abs, and pulled his pants up, hiding that amazing ass of his from view. I groaned and laid down, and proceeded to put on my sick puppy act.

He opened the door quickly, and Faith completely passed up Jacob and came straight to me, "Aww you poor Wolfie, did the bad man hurt you?" She pet my face softly, "It's okay, Wolfie, he's gone now, and you were so brave! You're going to feel better real soon. Yes you are!" She dug around in the bag she was carrying and brought out what looked like a dog treat, then looked to Jacob, "May I?"

Jacob eyed it, "What's in it?"

"It's just a dog treat, Jacob. I may or may not have put a little bit of bliss oil in it." She could tell he was about to say no, "But it'll help her feel better!"

He threw up his hands, "Fine, but if she won't eat it, it's not my fault."

I fully intended to turn my nose up at it. Bliss oil wasn't something I really wanted to have in my system, but Faith had such a sweet expression as she offered to me and I couldn't refuse. I gobbled it down and she grinned, "Aww see, she likes it!" Jacob was giving me a look that could only be interpreted as 'Seriously?'

As Faith turned towards him he put on his somber face, "I'm surprised. Is that the only reason you visited?"

"Well, actually," She started.

I tried to listen in, but there was a growing cloud of sparkles clouding my vision, and apparently my ears too as Faith and Jacob's voices began to sound farther and farther away. I blinked, and I was standing in a beautiful flowered glen, surrounded by a huge forest of tall pine trees. Butterflies were fluttering about lazily, and birds were singing. It was so peaceful, and I could hear the call of a wolf in the distance. It was familiar and resonated with a certain part of me that had me running towards the call that felt like home.

The days were passing slowly, and I was growing restless. I had been confined to the room by Jacob, who insisted that we had to pretend that I was still injured, as to not raise suspicion, but two weeks looking at the same four walls was beginning to drive me mad. It wasn't so terrible when Jacob was in here with me, keeping me company. We fucked. A lot. I couldn't get enough of him, and he had learned how to push every one of my buttons in such delicious ways. And when we weren't fucking, we were cuddling and talking about everything under the sun, except the offer I'd made him. I hadn't asked, and he had yet to say, so I left it alone, even though I was dying to hear what his answer would be. Even now I was with him a part of me just wanted to turn him anyway, but he would despise me for it.

"What are your parents like?" He whispered, pulling me out of my thoughts, while he held me in his arms, despite the fact that he should be doing paperwork.

"They're," I pause, a memory of a beautiful blonde woman and a tall dark haired man flashing through my memory. "They're dead."

Jacob's arms tightened around me, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ask—"

"It's okay," I take a breath. "They were wonderful people. My mother was a wolf like me, who worked as a park ranger, with a personality radiant as the sun, always smiling, singing, loving me. My father was strong, a cop down to his very soul, but no matter what he was always there for us; he was my hero. They both were. They made sure I always knew I was loved. They listened to me, let me have an opinion and give it voice. They taught me respect, for myself and others, and the difference between right and wrong. And when I started shifting they went through it all with me, giving me nothing but support and encouragement. I never felt as though they were judging me.

"We used to go on camping trips every month. Real camping, in tents with sleeping bags, where we cooked our dinners with tinfoil on a fire, and roasted marshmallows under the stars. My dad taught me how to hunt, and protect myself. My mother taught me everything she knew about survival and being a wolf. And then when we weren't doing that we were going to the amusement park, or the zoo, or just playing silly games at home. They even danced—'' my voice broke, and I couldn't get another word out.

Jacob wiped my tears away and kissed my forehead, "Shh, it's okay. I'm here. You're alright."

I took a deep, shuddering breath, "No, I—I need to tell you how they died. It's important." Jacob didn't say anything, just nodded against my hair. "We were on a camping trip, after I started shifting. I was running through the woods as a wolf, bringing my mother a few rabbits to cook for dinner. We thought we were on the mountain alone, but we were wrong. There was a hunter, and apparently he had been tracking me for a while. I was so relaxed I didn't pay attention, and he followed me right to our camp. I had gone into my tent a wolf, and came out as a girl and he saw. He strode into our camp as my mother was stirring the stew, and dad was slicing bread. This maniac in camouflage started cussing, calling me an aberration, and saying I shouldn't even exist. He pulled out his gun, and aimed it right at my chest, and I was frozen in fear. My dad tackled him, and they fought, destroying the camp, knocking dinner all over the place, and Dad almost had him down. Mom went to get the gun from him, and he managed to pull the trigger. The bullet went straight through her heart." I took another breath, shaking with sobs, "Dad was startled and looked over, losing his focus, and that crazy man— he shot my dad in the neck— right in the jugular, and then ran off after realizing what he'd done. I tried to save my dad, but there wasn't enough time, and he couldn't heal. Not like me.

"I lost it, and saw red. I shifted and tracked him down. And I made him pay for my parents' deaths with his own life. I was a vicious, un-feeling monster. I tore him apart. By morning he had been reduced to a blood stain on the forest floor."

"Xena, that's not your fault," He tried to soothe me.

"No, I could've saved them, but I didn't. I did nothing!" I shook my head, covering my face with my hands, "I lost them because I was weak."

"You are anything but wea—"

I open my eyes and nearly shout at him, "I cannot lose you Jacob!" I take his face in my hands and make sure he sees in my eyes that I mean every word. "I cannot let your brothers, the law, or even death itself take you from me. I would rather die, than lose another person who is important to me. And if I lost you, that would be it.

"Being like me, hell, even just being with me puts you at risk, I know that. And I know that it would turn your life upside down, but it is the only way I can save you! It's the only way," I break down against his chest crying and shaking.

Jacob silently held me until I'd cried myself to the point of exhaustion. I was on the brink of sleep when his whisper worked its way into my consciousness, "I can't lose you either, Pup. So, I'll do it. I'll turn so we won't lose each other."


	6. Change

After Jacob's acceptance of my proposal, there had been so much planning to do. Still made our usual rounds through the Veteran's Center to keep up appearances, but behind closed doors we were plotting every detail of our great escape from Hope County. And finally we had it all mapped out. First, I'd turn Jacob and we would practice his shift for a few weeks until I thought he had it down well enough to be able to make the journey out of this hell. Then, we would enact the rescues of Whitehorse, Hudson, and Marshal Burke. After we got them to safety, we would slip away from Hope County like shadows in the night, never to return. We had yet to decide where we wanted to go though. I'd suggested Kentucky, while Jacob had mentioned Arkansas. For the moment we had agreed to just see where the wind took us.

Today felt strange though. I was supposed to turn him today. He had showed no apprehension about it since he had made his choice, but I was worried that he'd back out last minute, or regret the whole thing after the fact. In fact he did really well about convincing everyone here that he was coming down with the flu, to let us have enough time to complete the change and get started with practicing.

We entered his room and he locked the door behind us, fake coughing the whole time. He turned to me and raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to shift, Pup?"

In answer, I let it come over me, standing on my human legs, "Patience, Grasshopper." He came over to me, putting his arms around my waist, and I searched his face for any indicators that he had changed his mind, "Are you certain that this is what you want? There's no going back after this."

"Xena," He brought his hand up to stroke my cheek gently. "You know I never do anything without thinking it through and being sure of it."

I leaned into his touch, nodding, "How do you want me to do this? I mean, I can just bite you now in the place of your choice." I turned and kissed his palm, "I hate that I'm about to hurt you."

His eyes increased their intensity on me, and he moved his hand behind my head, weaving his fingers through my silvery tresses, "Well then, let's counteract the pain with pleasure."

For once he didn't start off hot and heavy. He captured my lips in a sweet kiss, and slowly turned up the heat, teasing his tongue along my lips. His skimmed his palms all over my body, touching every inch of my skin that he could reach, but making a point to stay away from my breasts, and going no lower than my waist. It was disarming, making me relax and forget my worries about what I was about to do, putting all of my focus on him. I held his body to me, massaging up and down his back as he continued to tantalize my nerves, slowly igniting my lust.

A girl can only take so much teasing, and I grew tired of his lack of contact to the places that I really craved it. I massaged my way down his back once again, but this time I reached his ass and I squeezed it, digging in my nails just a little as a 'hurry up'. He got the hint moving his lips to my neck as his finger tips traced a lazy path along the curves of my breast, causing my nipples to harden in anticipation as he swirled his way closer and closer to the eager buds. He waited a half second before pinching them and the sensation made me moan. He continued to stimulate my chest as he worked his lips down my neck, to my collarbone, giving me little love bites here and there. He lingered there as I moved my hands around to his chest, kneading the muscles in a cat-like fashion. Then he ducked his head and I melted in his arms as he used his tongue to trace the pat his fingers had previously taken on my right breast before laving at the nipple with his tongue.

I arched into him, moving mu hands under his shirt to run my fingers along the waist of his jeans before palming him through them. He was so hard already, his zipper straining with the effort to keep him from bursting free. I quickly relieved it of its duty pushing the fabric aside as I took him in my hand and worked him slowly, using the beads of moisture leaking from his tip as a lubricant to help make the movements smoother. He was having a hard time keeping his lips at my breasts as he kept wanting to cuss every time my hand slid over him in a different way. I used my free hand to push his jeans down his legs and he managed to kick out of them and his boots without taking his hands or mouth off of me. I added my second hand to my first as I worked it over his cock, coaxing a long moan from him, vibrating through my nipple, making my whole body thrum electrically.

He reached down, delving into my slick folds with his fingers, expertly sliding them back and forth. I threw my head back, and sighed his name. He circled that little bundle of nerves maddeningly for a moment before quickly entering me, pumping in and out slowly.

My legs were weak, and when he brought his fingers out of me, I collapsed to my knees. I immediately began stroking his balls with my tongue before moving up and running it along the underside of his length before taking him into my mouth. I felt him put his hands back into my hair, trying to hold my head still, but I was having none of it. I grabbed his hips in my hands and held him firmly. This time He wasn't going to fuck my mouth— I was going fuck him with it instead. I licked, and sucked him until he was squirming, occasionally trying to see if I'd relinquish my control of him, then losing his focus. He had grown harder if that was even possible, and I took all of him in, all the way to his base, before I looked up at him from under my lashes. His eyes were on me and his stare was scorching hot, making me release my hold on him with a gasp.

He wasted no time, pulling out of my mouth and gathering me up in his arms. He was kissing me in a frenzy, teeth tongues and lips clashing as if they were in battle. My back went up against a wall, and then he was going down, nipping and kissing his way over my body. He then buried his tongue in my wet heat, setting me on fire. I was writhing in his grasp, and he lapped at me even faster before filling me with two of his delicious fingers. It was all too much and my brain was starting to short circuit. He must have sense that I was on the edge and he stood and secured my legs around his waist as he slid in smoothly, and I cried out almost too loudly. He drove me wild with his thrusts, and I was clawing at his back and nipping at his neck and shoulders frantically.

I was right at the edge, about to tip over, when his breath was hot at my ear, "Hold on, just a second longer, Pup. I'm almost there. Wait for me." I restrained myself as best I could and he rolled his hips into mine, over and over, tempo increasing until he cussed, "Fuck. Yes. Yes. Cum for me, Xena." That was all it took for me to crash right over the edge into ecstasy, feeling him hit that particular spot inside that made me see stars. His whole body tensed with his orgasm, and I bit down at the juncture between his neck and shoulder, sinking my teeth into his pliant flesh, the coppery taste of blood coating my tongue and I held on for a moment as he emptied himself into me. When his body relaxed I let go of him and he lowered me to my feet.

He leaned against the wall, catching his breath, and I looked at the wound I'd left him with. "Gosh that looks awful," I muttered to myself. The set of teeth marks was etched deep in his skin, blood steadily dripping its way down his chest in rivulets. I glanced at his face but he didn't seem to have registered the pain yet. Instead he was looking at me with an unreadable expression. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he reached up to the bite, smearing the blood. "I didn't feel it until just a second ago." He brought his other hand to my lips and gave me a slight smile, "You're a messy biter."

"And you're a bleeder," I pointed at the blood dripping down his front. "Let's get you cleaned up. We don't have much time." I went into the bathroom and got the first aid kit opened. I set aside a large bandage, before wetting a cloth to wash him with. I glanced up in the mirror and saw that my mouth and chin were coated in blood that was dripping down my neck onto my chest. A flash of tearing into a man's throat under the light of a half moon, and terrorized screams clouded my mind's eye, but I blinked and it was gone. Jacob came into behind me and I sat him on the edge of the tub as I started to wipe off all of the excess blood.

"What's next?"

I threw the bloodied rag into the tub and started opening the bandage, "In a few minutes you're going to feel increasingly dizzy, almost drunk. I'm going get you settled on the bed, and you'll pass out. It won't take long for your cells and DNA to change. But you're going to get hot, which is just your body raising its temperature to combat the change." I placed the bandage over the wound, which had already stopped bleeding. "Think of the bite as a virus. So, your immune system will fight it the same way it would fight the flu. However this 'virus' replicates itself extremely quickly so it won't take long for it to overrun your entire body and affect all of your cells. While this happens you're going to sleep for a little while and when you wake up it'll feel like you have a bad hangover, but without the puking."

"That doesn't sound so bad," He stood up and started walking towards the bed and I noticed him wobble.

I rushed to steady him, and then helped him over to the bed, "It's not. The hard part comes after the change."

He flopped onto the mattress, mumbling, "We'll bridge that burn when we cross to it."

I smiled as I kissed his forehead, "I love you, Jacob."

"Stay," He managed to snake an arm around my waist before pulling onto the bed next to him, curling his body around mine. Nuzzling my hair he whispered, "Love you." It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and as much as I wanted to lay with him, I needed to clean the blood off of myself and then cover him up before shifting and taking my place as his sentry.

I manage to wriggle out of his arms and I can feel the heat begin to radiate off of him as I do. I take another look at his face and see that he looks perfectly relaxed. I can't wait to see him so relaxed all the time after we leave here. It takes years off of his appearance. Soon, my Love. Soon, we'll be free.

It had been six hours since I'd bitten Jacob and he still hadn't shown any signs of waking up. He was alive, I knew. His heart was beating strong in his chest, and his breathing was even. But I was still beginning to worry, no change I'd ever seen had taken this long. Three hours at most.

I was pacing a path into the wood floor when I heard movement on the bed. I stopped and looked over to see Jacob bringing a hand to his head. I shifted back to my human legs as I hurried to his side, "Hey you."

"Hey," He looked at me from underneath the red hair that had flopped over part of his face and smiled. I was caught off guard by his eyes. They'd been blue before, but now they were an icy blue with tiny gold flecks in them. They were beautiful. He noticed my staring, "What's wrong? Did it not work?"

I managed to look focus on the rest of his face, rather than just his eyes, "No, it definitely worked. How do you feel?"

He moved around under the blanket, "I feel fine. Everything works. I feel stronger, though. Is that normal?"

"Absolutely, would you like to get up? Stretch?" I asked as I stroked his cheek. He nodded, pushing the covers off and I gasped, "Oh my god."

"What?" He froze. "What's wrong? Do I have a tail?"

I brought a hand to my mouth, "Your scars."

"What about—" He looked down at his arms and stopped mid-question. "They're gone? No way. How? The doctor's said they'd never heal."

I marveled at his perfect skin. All of the angry red rashes and scars were gone. I could only just barely see traces of them when he moved a certain way, "The change must've healed them. I mean, werewolves heal much must faster than humans because we are constantly generating new cells." I brushed my hand over the smooth skin of his arm, "Your body must've generated so many it was able to heal everything. That must be why it took so long."

He looked up then, "How long did it take?"

"You were out for six hours, but it was only supposed to be three."

"Oh." He eyed his newly cleared skin, "So when can I shift?"

"You can start trying now if you want. Though, if we're going to do that you may want to turn on the radio, "I suggested, moving out of the way so he could stand.

He went over and hit the power on the old radio on his desk and Eden's Gate music flooded the room, "Now what?"

I got up and stood a few feet away from him, "close your eyes, and breathe. Focus on your heartbeat." I watched him do as I said before I continued, "Feel inside of yourself for that part of you that feels wild. Restless. Perhaps anxious. Do you feel it?"

His brows pushed together in concentration, "No I don't feel anything like that. I just feel me."

"It's okay, just take deep breaths. Ignore the music, I know it's distracting, but we need it. Keep trying," I told him patiently. He could do this. He had to do this.

"Wait, I think I may have it. What I do now?" He sounded a little nervous now.

I smiled, "Let it take over."

It took a moment, but then I saw his form tense, and he fell to the ground in a grunt of pain, "Argh, what the hell?"

I could see the bones in his face moving grotesquely under the skin as his eyes screwed themselves shut, "Your bones are all shifting themselves. Reforming into wolf bones. It will be over soon. Hang in there a bit longer," I urged him. His skin was stretching over his cracking limbs and spine, then fur began sprouting all over his body, growing longer, and he was groaning, growling and crying out in pain. It hurt me to watch him go through it, knowing from experience that it was practically self inflicted torture.

Before I knew it there was a handsome russet colored wolf, with ice blue eyes standing in front of me, "Oh Jacob you're absolutely beautiful." He cocked his head at me, before rushing into the bathroom and jumping up to stand with his front paws on the edge of the sink.

**Holy fuck, I do look good.**

I laughed and he looked away from the mirror and towards me, "Did you not believe me, silly boy?"

He yelped in surprise and jumped down to come stand in front of me. **You can hear me?**

"I can," I began to explain as I reached down to pet the soft fur framing his face. "I turned you, so we have a pack bond that allows us to communicate. If we ever run into other werewolves you won't be able to hear them, or vice versa unless I accept them into our pack."

**Will you be able to hear them anyway?**

"Yes, because I'm Alpha."

**Bullshit**, He huffed a breath.

"Alright get over yourself, Hot Stuff," I playfully scolded. "Are your ready to change back?"

**Not really. It hurts.**

"I know," I knelt down and held his face up to mine so I could look into those icy blues of his. "But the more you do it, the less it will hurt. You'll get to where it just rolls through you and you don't really feel it. It doesn't hurt when I shift, anymore. You build up a tolerance to the pain."

**Fine.** He shook out his fur closed his eyes.

Just do the same thing you did before but find the part of you that feels human. It should be easier because you're more attuned to it." I stepped back to give him space.

Sure enough, it didn't take him nearly as long before he began shifting again. A moment later he was kneeling in front of me as a man. "That was amazing," he breathed as he stood and came to hold me to him.

"I know," I grinned. I motioned to the bed, "Now let's get some sleep, you can practice more over the next few days."

Finally, it was time to put our Escape plan into motion, and Jacob was balking, "I don't like it. You'd be too exposed."

"We've talked about this. Someone has to make sure John stays passed out at his ranch while I go free Hudson." I groaned.

"But then I can't protect you," He countered.

"You also can't be missing from any of his guards' sights for too long or they'll be suspicious." I crossed my arms as I stared at him. "You know I'm right."

He growled and turned away, "Fine." He grabbed his truck keys and headed for the door, "Let's go." I shifted and followed him out. I knew he was worried about me but I'd be fine.

The ride to John's ranch was long, and neither of us said a word to the other. We had a lot to do today and not nearly enough time to do it. After too much silence, the oversized log cabin came into view and my gut started twisting it's self into knots with anxiety. I shoved that feeling way down into the deepest pit of my brain and hopped out when Jacob opened the door for me. **Thank you**.

He just nodded as he headed into the house.

John was more than eager for a drink. Apparently Hudson was stubborn enough to keep from being converted despite all the torture he'd employed to change her mind, and it was seriously getting to him. Jacob poured him something extra strong, and then slipped a few drops of bliss oil in it. John gulped it down without taking time to taste it as Jacob sipped on his beer. I watched the scene repeat itself four more times before John finally fell out of his chair while ranting about atonement. When I went to check on him he was out cold. **Okay, Jacob, give me the key so we can do this.**

He grunted, and knelt down to grab the bunker key from around John's neck. He offered it to me with a hard look and I took the object carefully. "Be careful, Pup. If it comes down to you or her, leave her."

I nuzzled my head into his chest for a moment. **I love you. I will come back to you, I promise.**

"I love you, too, Xena," He whispered, and I snuck out of the cabin and headed for John's bunker.

About a mile outside of John's bunker site Jacob and I had stashed a cult truck in the woods with a disguise for me in it so I could go in undetected then have a getaway vehicle for when I had Joey in hand. When I reached it, I quickly got dressed, then hoped into the cab and drove it right into the main area in front of the bunker.

I had all the usual Cult weapons hanging off of me, and I felt itchy and uncomfortable in these clothes. I chalked it up to having pretty much been exclusively naked for the past months. I walked right into the door with no one the wiser. I just kept humming the Cult's Jacob song and no one paid me any mind. I followed the directions that Jacob had given me, and found the door that Joey was locked behind.

I unlocked it when there was no one around and slipped inside, shutting the door behind me. I saw Hudson, sagging over in sleep, tied to an office chair.

"Deputy Hudson," I whispered, straining my voice to sound different.

She snapped awake, crying out in fear against the gag in her mouth, eyes wide with terror. "Shhh, I'm here to rescue you." She eyed me but stop fighting her ropes. "I know I look like one of them but I'm part of the resistance and I'm here to get you out, but you have to trust me. I'm going to untie you and un-gag you, can you please not scream?" A second passed and she nodded slowly.

I used the knife at my hip to cut the ropes and gag and she rubbed her wrist before getting to her feet, "Who are you?"

I knew that with the dirt I'd caked my hair in, and disguising my voice she wouldn't recognize me, "A friend. Now put these on." I handed her a set of Cult garments to put on over her filthy clothes. "Put the bandana over your face."

She warily did as I told her to, probably concerned that this was John's newest method of getting her to convert. She tucked her hair up under itself to make it look shorter, "What now?

"We walk out of here calmly. There are too many cultists for us to get out of here in a blaze of bullets." I paused, "Act sick. Cough and stuff."

She raised an eyebrow but nodded, and I led her out of the room after checking to make sure the coast was clear,

As soon as we got to the main hallway she looked at the ground and proceed to have a coughing fit, I used a gravelly voice to give her assurances, "We'll get you some fresh air in just a second. Just hold on a bit longer." To anyone who looked at us funny, I hurriedly explained, "She inhaled some bliss fumes and it made her sick. She just needs some air." And every one of them nodded as though they'd done the same thing, before going back to their business.

We walked right out of the bunker, and I got her into the truck. After we got down the road a ways, she breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Oh my god, how did you do that?"

"Lucky, I guess," I shrugged before pulling a syringe out of my pocket and stabbing her in the neck with the same tranquilizer Jacob had shot me up with as a wolf. She'd be knocked out for several hours. She let out a sound of protest before she slumped over in her seat. I took her to the safe house Jacob and I had set up that was far off of the beaten path, and carried her into the cellar, laying her on a cot, "I'm sorry about this Joey, but I promise you'll be free soon.

A couple hours had passed, and Jacob and I had reunited. He had asked Faith to come "Wolfie sit" so he could take care of some things, and then he was going to get White horse and Burke out of her bunker himself. He wasn't particularly worried about being recognized or questioned. Almost everyone under Faith was drugged out of their minds, and those who weren't wouldn't dare question the Red Herald.

She showed up at his bunker exactly when we planned, and she rushed over to me, "Wolfie! I see you're feeling so much better since the last time I saw you!" She wrapped her armes around me in excitement, and I would've laughed had I not been so wary of her.

"Thank you for coming to watch her, Faith. My men spotted some wolves up in the mountains earlier and we're going to go try to catch them before it gets dark, but I don't want my Judge to get caught in any crossfire," he said, putting his rifle and dart gun on his shoulder, all part of the charade of course.

Faith didn't even look at him. Just raised one hand in the air as she pet me behind my ear, "No worries, Jacob. Be safe. We'll see you when we get back."

I looked him in the eye just before he walked out the door,** I love you, Jacob. I'll see you soon.**

**I love you too, Xena.** He shut the door then and the clock in my head started ticking while waiting for him to come back.

A few hours later Jacob returned and told Faith about the failed wolf capture, saying how the wolves had moved on and they'd lost the trail. She was sympathetic and hugged him, apologizing for his bad luck. She gave me a big hug around my neck, and I licked her cheek good naturedly, making her giggle like a little girl. I almost felt bad about leaving her here to face whatever forces came to stop Eden's Gate when we left.

The second she was out the door, I shifted and went outside with Jacob to drag in the freshly dead human and wolf bodies we'd stolen from the cages. We took them up to his room, and luckily for us it was later in the evening, and almost everyone was at the makeshift mess hall getting dinner, leaving no one around to see us. We dressed the human corpse in the clothes and boots Jacob shed, leaving him naked, and then sat it at his desk. I laid the wolf on the floor by the foot of the bed, before going to the old gas heater in the room to break the line. When I turned around I saw him strapping his gun and knife onto the corpse at his desk.

"You're giving up your gun?" I asked, walking over to him, already starting to scent the gas filling the room.

"I won't need it, and they're more likely to believe that this is my body if it has my weapons on it." He shrugged, getting a cigar out of the humidor on his desk and sticking it in the body's mouth. Jacob didn't smoke them often, but he did have a small stash and the slow burn would be the perfect thing to ignite the gas once it filled up the room.

"Ready?" he asked, holding up the lighter. I nodded, and he flicked it on and lit the cigar. We rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind us. Racing down the stars, we made a beeline for the back door, and let ourselves out into the yard.

We slipped through the fence Jacob had cut during our afternoon out here the day before, and shifted at the edge of the trees. Jacob was just a few seconds behind me after all the practice he'd done, and we raced off into the woods together. We weren't even a hundred yards from the fence when the explosion sounded, and we looked back at the orange glow briefly before heading for the safe house.

It took us about an hour to get there and we shifted again. Jacob was panting as we let ourselves into the little cabin, "I didn't realize wolves could run that fast." He started getting dress in some jeans and an old Led Zeppelin shirt that had been in the abandoned dresser.

"Wolves can't," I shrugged on a faded sundress that I found in the closet. "Werewolves can."

He looked me up and down before grabbing me up and kissing me, "I love you."

I kissed him back before pushing out of his embrace. "I love you too, now throw on that ball cap, and let's get moving. We don't have much time before they wake up."

He nodded, and pulled it on to cover up his haircut, "GO ahead and go get the truck ready, I'll start bringing them up.

"On it," I grabbed the key off of the hook and ran out to go start the old blue dodge that had been left by the cabin's owners. I turned the key and waited for the diesel engine to be ready and when the little ignition coils symbol went off brought the old engine to life with a rumble. We had brought out enough fuel to fill up the tank when we'd come to set the safe house up in the middle of the night a few nights ago, stashing them a few yards away under some brush so no one could steal our transport to freedom. As I brought the fuel cans out of their hiding spot to empty into the tank, Jacob brought Joey out and placed her in the back seat. After emptying the first can, I took a moment to strap her in. She was mumbling a little but not awake yet.

I got another can in it before he brought out Whitehorse, and I had to help him with getting him into the back seat. As I finished emptying out the third fuel can he loaded Burke in next to Whitehorse, then shut the door quietly.

"All set?" I asked, closing the fuel tank.

He opened the passenger door for me, "All set. Let's get out of here."

We set off in the dark, driving just by the full moon's light so as not to risk any Cult convoys spotting our headlights. The whole thing felt too eerie, and I was anxious to be out of this god forsaken county. Jacob drove slowly, carefully down the road and I prayed to whatever god listening for us to be able to get out of here without incident.

Finally, we made it about a mile out from the County border, and I got out, stepping out of my dress so I could shift and see if there were any roadblocks ahead.

"Be quick and quiet," Jacob reminded me.

I nodded my head at him, **Of course. Just hang tight, and be on alert.**

I ran ahead, keeping to the trees. Arriving at the border blockade, I didn't immediately see any signs of trouble, but I knew better than to judge things on how they looked. I crept forward, trying to stay in the shadows so my white fur wouldn't shine in the moon light. it didn't take long to spot two men passed out against a concrete barrier, a bottle of liquor lying on the ground between them. This will be easy.

I padded over silently, and took one man's throat in my jaws, clamping them shut before he could scream, to suffocate and quiet him. But he must've kicked his buddy as he struggled against me and I heard a moan to the side of me.

"What the— Oh no! Hold on Bobby, I'll save you!"

I heard the gun click, and reacted a moment too late. Dropping the dead man I held in my jaws, I jumped away but felt a fiery bloom of pain in my shoulder. I snarled at the half drunk man who'd just shot me. Oh hell no. I have almost escaped hell with the love of my life, and you are not going to stand in my way you drunk bastard! I jumped to the other side of the barrier and waited for a moment. The idiot popped his head up like a gopher to see where I'd gone, and I was waiting for him, clamping his entire face in my teeth I drug him over the wall, making him drop the gun. I stood on him to hold him down as I ripped most of his face off before ripping his throat out for good measure. I had had enough of all of the cultists' shit.

I scouted the area further, and didn't find any more peggies lying in wait. Loping back to the truck, I saw Jacob had his head out the window, anxiously searching for me. He looked relieved when he saw me, but the sight of blood on my shoulder changed the expression to one of concern, "What happened?"

I shifted, throwing the dress back on, blood already soaking it, "I got surprised, but it's fine. He's dead." I hopped into the truck, "Coast is clear, Let's go."

We drove through the blockade and went another twenty miles from hope county before we stopped at an abandoned rest stop. Jacob and I hopped out, and heard Hudson, starting to moan.

"Let's put her in the driver's seat," I suggested, already picking her up out of the back seat. Jacob nodded and open the door for me. "Go to the woods, I'll meet you there in a second."

"I don't know, Xena," He started.

"I'll be fine. I just want to make sure they all wake up." I put Joey in the seat then turned around and kissed him. "I'll be okay.

"Okay okay, but hurry. The tranquilizer won't last much longer," He urged before running for the woods.

I turned to Joey and shook her a bit, rousing her. She blinked her eyes over and over, trying to figure out what was going on. I knew I'd be blurry to her so now was the perfect time, "Joey, you're safe now. Take the sheriff and the Marshal to the closest law enforcement office you can find and get things rolling to take down Joseph Seed and Eden's Gate. Do you understand?"

She nodded, still dazed, "Is that you, Rook? John Seed told me you were dead." she started to cry and my heart broke a little at the thought of lying to her, but I knew I'd be a foggy memory and one she could easily write off.

"Yes, it's me," I took her hand. "I'm in a better place now. Take care of yourself." Then I ran off as fast I could to the forest, know all she'd have seen was a vanishing blur in the moonlight.

Jacob was waiting for me about fifty yards into the trees, sighing in relief when I joined him, "I was starting to worry about you." He hugged me, then pulled back, "How's your shoulder?"

"It's healing," I stripped off the ruined sundress,exposing the closing wound to him. "I'll be good as new in a few hours."

He kissed the mark, and then got undressed as well, "So where do you want to call home? Arkansas or Kentucky?"

I didn't answer as we both shifted. Then I move over to him, touching my nose to his before pressing my face against his neck. **I go where you go.**


	7. BONUS: First Sight

Once again his brother had summoned him to the main compound. He didn't know why. The only services his brother required him to attend were the ones he held on Sunday. All others were optional, and He had much better things to do. He drove the road almost by memory, lost in his head. Joseph had said there was something important happening tonight, though he wasn't sure what could be so important. He could be training that new batch of Judges right now, but his brother was demanding, and who was the Red Herald to tell the Father no? He got out of the truck with heavy footsteps. He hated coming to these sermons. He really didn't believe any of his brother's claims of the world ending, or that any of this was 'the only way to save' anyone. But his other two siblings had bought right in to Joseph's vision for the world, and the crusade had begun. Jacob could either join them and do as his brother asked, or he could live a life with no purpose, his brother had told him. And a soldier needed a purpose.

Tonight's sermon was just as boring as all the others. His brother's followers were fawning all over their Father, and those who weren't were hanging off of his every word. He rolled his eyes from his place at the side of the chapel. Whatever his brother had thought was going to make tonight so special had yet to happen and he was tired.

The sound of a helicopter growing close was making its way through the walls of the church and he tensed. He looked to Joseph, knowing that he could hear it too. The Father was actually smiling as he preached. That asshole had been expecting this, and he hadn't told his brother who was practically head of security, anything. A glance at Faith and John told him that they also hadn't been told. He clenched his fists at his sides and waited for whatever Joseph was so excited about.

The church door swung open and three figures made their way inside. He recognized the rounded figure of Sheriff White horse. He looked nervous, like he'd rather be anywhere else. Jacob didn't blame him. He moved his eyes to the defiant figure the Whitehorse's left. A man dressed in all black wearing a bullet proof vest, emblazoned with the word 'Marshal'. So the government had gotten wind of what he and his family were doing here in Hope County and had sent in a big gun. The Marshal looked determined as he passed all the followers and walked right up to the front of the room.

Jacob watched the Marshal hold up a piece of paper and start speaking authoritatively, the sheriff looking almost apologetic, like the parent of an unruly child. He was saying that he had a warrant for Joseph's arrest as some of the flowers began to gather protectively in front of their Father, and he could feel the tension buzzing in the air. The followers brandished their weapons and there were murmurs and shouting for the lawmen to leave. He put his hand on his gun, ready for any violence that may ensue, moving to stand behind Joseph in a display of solidarity.

The sheriff was yelling at the Marshal now, telling him to calm down, and Joseph stepped forward telling his defenders to leave quietly. They did as asked but Jacob could see the murderous looks that they were giving the lawmen as they left. When they filtered out, Jacob could clearly see the third figure who'd entered with the Sheriff and the Marshal. It was a woman. The world around him faded and he focused solely on her.

She was tall, and he could tell she was in good shape, despite the fact that her Deputy uniform didn't do her figure any justice. She had a full mouth, with a perfect cupid's bow, and his lips faintly tingled at the thought of kissing her flashed into his head. He noted her defined cheekbones and slightly squared jaw, and then moved his gaze up to her eyes. He could've sworn they were golden, but it had to be the way the light streaming through that glass Eden's Gate symbol was hitting them. That must also be why the pale blonde hair secured in a bun behind her head looked like it was coiled white gold. Jacob couldn't tear his eyes away from her as my mind supplied a vision of thrusting into her as her long legs wrapped around him, his eyes staring into hers possessively. Her eyes actually met his then and he stared back at her, doing his best not let his gaze betray the lustful thoughts in his head.

"Rook, arrest this son of a bitch," The Marshal demanded, causing her to break eye contact with Jacob.

He watched her pause a moment as Joseph held his wrists out to her. She put them in the cuffs, then turned him away from all of us to be escorted out. He could hear the followers beginning to riot outside and moved to watch from the door way as they disappeared around a corner. A moment later gunshots rang out and then the chopper was ascending as followers tried to pull it down. He spotted her pushing some of the crazed Eden's Gate members out of the aircraft, then keeping the marshal in as he almost fell out. She was strong.

Suddenly, he watched the chopper begin to spin out of control and his chest tightened. It went down just outside of the compound, and he heard the followers erupt in cheers. He was hurrying towards the crash site when he heard Joseph's voice ring out, "BEGIN THE REAPING!"

He got there just as they were tying up the Marshal and another Deputy, the sheriff and a third deputy bound and unconscious on the ground. Joseph was praising his followers as some rushed off into the woods. Joseph walked over to him, and Jacob assessed him, "I see you're alright."

"I told you God wouldn't let them take me, brother," Joseph smiled at him.

"Where's the other Deputy?" Jacob searched the scene in the firelight from the wreckage.

"Escaped," Joseph said with a slight frown. "But our followers will find her and return her to us."

Jacob nodded and looked out into the darkness. If they didn't he would, and he wasn't entirely sure what he'd do with her when he did./p


End file.
